Quite a bizarre story about a father and his missing son…
In an interview with HLN news anchor Nancy Grace, father Charles Bothuell IV said his 12-year-old son had gone missing for 11 days. In fact, America started the hashtag #FindCharlie to help the father find his missing son. However, he was caught off guard when the anchor told him reports about his son being found in the basement of his own house.
During the live interview, anchor Nancy tells Charles, “We’re getting reports that your son has been found in your basement. Sir?”
To which Charles responded with just one word, “What?”
Expectedly, Charles was lost for words after knowing his son was alive in the basement of his own house.
When Nancy questions Charles if he had ever checked the basement, he says: “I’ve searched the basement, my wife has searched the basement, the FBI has searched the basement, the Detroit Police searched my basement. We’ve all searched my basement multiple times.”
It was reported at the time that Charles was followed by the press when he returned home after the interview.
However, what investigations revealed in the following days was nothing less than shocking.
The police said the 12-year-old son was never lost and was hiding in the basement from his father and stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell.
Charles Bothuell V told cops he hid in the basement because he was scared of his father’s reaction after not having exercised.
Bothuell IV admitted to beating his son with a PVC pipe and was handed 18 months of probation and mandatory anger management classes.
The torture charge was later dismissed in court, if proven, the couple could have faced life sentences.
At the trial in 2016, Bothuell IV pleaded guilty to fourth-degree child abuse in exchange for the removal of the second-degree child-abuse charges.
Prosecutors revealed that Bothuell V was very thin and had marks on his body when he was found.
He also lost custody of his son and was no longer allowed to have further contact with him. His wife, Dillard-Bothuell reportedly accepted a plea deal too, but the details of this were not made public.
As the footage has appeared on social media once again, users have been giving their reactions, with some not familiar with the story questioning whether it is real.
One commenter said: “Wait this is real ? There’s no way.”
A second added: “If he had no idea why didn’t he run off and go home.”
And a third said: “He definitely knew he was in there.”
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: AWM